Irma & Jose — updates

Hurricane Irma — now a tropical storm — has made it’s way to Georgia, while Hurricane Jose idles out in the Atlantic Ocean just east of the Bahamas (and Florida). Here’s some basic information about what is going on and where to report any problems.

State agencies have been shut down for the next two days, and so will re-open on Wednesday. Yesterday, Gov. Nathan Deal expanded the state of emergency to cover all 159 counties.

As of noon Georgia Power has reported 330,000 customers with power outages. These outrages have been reported all across south and middle Georgia, stretching from Brunswick and St. Simon Island in southeast Georgia to Albany in southwest Georgia, and extending northward through Macon. Savannah and Statesboro have been pretty heavily impacted, and there have even been outages reported as far north as Gainesville.

To report power outages in your area, call Georgia Power at 1-888-891-0938, or report online here.

Folks are being asked to stay put, as driving can be especially hazardous both because of the weather and because there may be downed power lines.

Most school systems are closed today and many will be closed tomorrow, however those decisions are made by the local school boards, so you’ll want to check with your local school system to see if schools in your area will be open tomorrow. Colleges and universities are local wise making individual decisions about closures; most are closed today and many, but not all, will be closed tomorrow.

Updates from the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) can most easily be found on their twitter page at: twitter.com/GeorgiaEMA or search @GeorgiaEMA on Twitter to find them (no twitter login required).